Monday

" Never Try to Trick Me With a Kiss" by Sylvia Plath

Never try to trick me with a kiss
Pretending that the birds are here to stay;
The dying man will scoff and scorn at this.

A stone can masquerade where no heart is
And virgins rise where lustful Venus lay:
Never try to trick me with a kiss.

Our noble doctor claims the pain is his,
While stricken patients let him have his say;
The dying man will scoff and scorn at this.

Each virile bachelor dreads paralysis,
The old maid in the gable cries all day:
Never try to trick me with a kiss.

The suave eternal serpents promise bliss
To mortal children longing to be gay;
The dying man will scoff and scorn at this.

Sooner or later something goes amiss;
The singing birds pack up and fly away;
So never try to trick me with a kiss:
The dying man will scoff and scorn at this.

I picked this poem because I've always wanted to read something by Sylvia Plath. Her life and her suicide intrigue me and so I picked this poem. She supposedly stuck her head in the oven until she suffocated.

Surprisingly, this poem wasn't depressing at all, which is what I expected coming from an author like Sylvia Plath. I think that she is trying to convey that she cannot be tempted, and seductions or "kisses" cannot trick her. I'm not sure if she is talking about a guy trying to seduce her, or just any temptation in general, but it's like she knows that she is being tricked. My favorite line was "A stone can masquerade where no heart is" meaning that appearances can be very deceiving, but they still can't trick her because she knows what's up.

For me, Plath has always been accessible yet challenging, intriguing/complex yet down-to-earth. So much talent in her work...I haven't met a poem of hers that I did not absolutely love. Nice work, Sonia